Knee-Jerk Reactions After McDonald's All American Game

The nation's top college basketball prospects gathered this year, as they do every year, for the McDonald's All American Game in the House That Jordan Built, the United Center in Chicago.

With nine of the game's players undecided on their college destination, there were many questions to answer Wednesday night. Like, would these undecided players go to Kentucky, or Kentucky? Would they go to Kentucky now, or would they go to Kentucky later? Do you think that when they go to Kentucky, they'll be on the blue rotation or the white rotation? These are the questions that haunt us this day.

Ah, I kid. There was a lot of great talent and even greater potential on display in Chicago, from top overall prospect Ben Simmons through the last player off the bench. And those undecideds provided plenty of intrigue, regardless of where they matriculate.

Here are some knee-jerk reactions in the initial wake of the biggest game on the college basketball recruiting calendar.

LSU: A Comeback Without Borders

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Ben Simmons

Ben Simmons is generally considered a "positionless" player. That is generally considered a compliment.

The top prospect in the country showed Wednesday why that description is apt. The 6'9" Simmons is fast in the open court. He pulled down 10 rebounds and distributed three assists to go with a decent seven points (according to the official box score).

As ESPN recruiting insider Jeff Borzello pointed out on Twitter, Simmons "has unreal vision and off-hand passing ability for someone his size."

Yep, Simmons can do it all. And he'll be the face of a new era when he leads LSU into battle next season, alongside fellow McDonald's player Antonio Blakeney. Should be interesting.

This Isn't a Super-Awesome Game to Watch

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Malik Newman

Clang!

Think of the NBA All-Star Game. Lots of loosey-goosey play, lots of bids for the highlight reels, lots of threes and fast breaks, not much defense.

Now picture the high school version of that game.

There you go. Together, the East and West only managed to shoot 42 percent from the field. That isn't very good. Six different players couldn't manage to make more than one shot. Two players—prized undecided Malik Newman and Syracuse commit Malachi Richardson—couldn't even make one.

I don't even want to tell you about the three-point shooting. That's not true. Yes, I do. The East—which won the game 111-91, by the way—went 1-of-16 from behind the arc. That's 6.3 percent. The West went 6-of-26, for a comparatively robust 23 percent clip.

The teams did combine for 30 turnovers, though. So that was nice.

If you expect this new group to somehow magically rescue college basketball from its scoring problems, don't hold your breath. People get hurt that way.

Cheick Diallo Is Freakin' Awesome

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You know the top guys here. Simmons, Jaylen Brown, Ivan Rabb and so on. We know those guys are legit.

But Cheick Diallo has, relatively speaking, flown beneath a lot of radars. Not after tonight. He was named the player of the game with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, 10 rebounds, two steals, one block, three assists and no turnovers.

The player of the game's play of the game summed up his performance. He blocked a shot to start a break, then got down the court fast enough to get the finish on the other end.

When you hear someone describe a player using the word "motor," this is what they're talking about.

As for his commitment, he's undecided at this point. The 6'9" forward still has five schools (Kentucky and Kansas included) on his list. He's apparently waiting to see which players from the various schools depart, as minutes are a key consideration for him.

"That's what I'm waiting for," Diallo told recruiting writer Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "I want to know who's going and who's staying."

Either way, here's guessing he's about to get a tidal wave of unsolicited advice on where to receive his education.

Maryland Could Be Even Better Next Year

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Diamond Stone

Diamond Stone is not rough. In fact, he's already got some polish, as well as several facets to his game.

But enough of my five-star name jokes. Stone was the best post player in this contest, hitting seven of his nine field-goal attempts to score 14 points along with three boards and two blocks. Not bad, considering the guards are prohibited by law from passing the ball during this game.

Stone will join the Maryland Terrapins next season. With transfer Robert Carter also heading to College Park and point guard Melo Trimble returning to school, the Terps may be ready to improve on a strong 2014-15 campaign that defied preseason expectations.

PJ Dozier Might Lead Something Interesting at South Carolina

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PJ Dozier (right)

PJ Dozier was, quietly, one of the better players on the United Center court Wednesday night. It's fitting, because his commitment to South Carolina also went through without a lot of noise.

The 6'6" point guard finished with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and three assists. He was a little sloppy (two turnovers, four personal fouls), but still looked good overall.

Dozier looks like he's ready to star for his home-state team, a team that should be poised to take a step in the right direction next season.

The Rich Get Richer...Maybe

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Stephen Zimmerman

Kentucky's going to need some reinforcements.

With pretty much every significant player on this year's roster expected to go pro, John Calipari and company will need new blue blood if they want to avoid the unthinkable, like losing to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT or something crazy like that.

They have a little catching up to do, though. Yes, they've already locked up Isaiah Briscoe, among several others. All joking aside, they have, to the surprise of no one, another strong class coming in (including elite prospect Skal Labissiere, who wasn't eligible for All American status).

But at the moment, Briscoe is their only incoming McDonald's All American. You know they're not having that out in Lexington.

UK recruiting writer Ben Roberts reported during the game that the Cats machine is now reportedly targeting Stephen Zimmerman, Diallo and Thomas Bryant.

Something tells me the Wildcats will be fine regardless of what other All Americans they do or do not land moving forward. But wouldn't it be special if they landed a few more? What a story that would be.